Noun

(en noun)

A long stick with a sharp tip used as a weapon for throwing or thrusting, or anything used to make a thrusting motion.

A soldier armed with such a weapon; a spearman.

* 2011 , Thomas Penn, Winter King , Penguin 2012, p. 187:

Two of the four spears came directly from Lady Margaret's staff. One was her great-nephew Maurice St John […].

A sharp tool used by fishermen to retrieve fish.

(ice hockey) an illegal maneuver using the end of a hockey stick to strike into another hockey player.

(wrestling) a running tackle on an opponent performed in professional wrestling.

A spearman.

(Sir Walter Scott)

A shoot, as of grass; a spire.

The feather of a horse.

The rod to which the bucket, or plunger, of a pump is attached; a pump rod.

A long, thin strip from a vegetable.

asparagus and broccoli spears

Noun

(label) A long, straight stick, especially one used to assist in walking.

*{{quote-book, year=1927, author= F. E. Penny

, chapter=4, title= Pulling the Strings , passage=The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff .}}

A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written.

(label) The employees of a business.

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 16, author=Denis Campbell, work=Guardian

, title= Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients' , passage=Most staff do not have the skills to cope with such challenging patients, who too often receive "impersonal" care and suffer from boredom, the first National Audit of Dementia found. It says hospitals should introduce "dementia champions".}}

(label) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.

A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.

* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

Methought this staff , mine office badge in court, / Was broke in twain.

*Sir (c.1564-1627)

All his officers brake their staves'; but at their return new ' staves were delivered unto them.

A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

(label) The rung of a ladder.

* Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels)

I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves .

A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)

Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical.

(label) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

(label) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

(label) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution.